Boy scouts protest homosexual resolution

PHOENIX — About a dozen boy scouts and their leaders picketed quietly outside of the Boy Scouts Grand Canyon Chapter in Phoenix.

They were part of some 50 protests that happened at boy scout offices across the country.

“We’re here to protest a resolution by the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America to change the membership guidelines to allow openly homosexual youths to join the organization,” troop leader Justin Riggs said.

Riggs said most boy scout parents oppose the resolution. He said they’re afraid of their kid sharing a tent with someone who is openly gay.

“It could be nothing. It could be just a tacit approval of that lifestyle. It could be harassment. It could be unwanted sexual attention,” Riggs said. “These are issues that scouts would have to deal with, and it’s a mess that the boy scouts doesn’t need to deal with.”

According to Riggs, thousands of parents will pull their kids out of boy scouts if the resolution is passed. He said that’s what happened in Canada, where gay scouts are allowed to be open.

Riggs said the boy scouts organization was founded on Christian principles 103 years ago. Riggs said that if the gays are allowed in, he and his family will be out.

“My duty is to God. That’s in the scout oath. I will stand before God one day, and I will have to give an account for what I did,” said Riggs. “My four boys are not going to go into a group where they are possibly going to be influenced to accept a behavior that the Bible itself says is an abomination. The book of Romans says specifically that a Godless, reprobate mind lends itself to this lifestyle.”

Riggs thinks that passing the resolution would be destructive to the boy scouts. If it passes, he believes the boy scouts would be “bullied” into taking things a step further.

“We already predict that if it does pass, the moment that this resolution is implemented, the ACLU will immediately file an equal opportunity lawsuit, and say that you can’t allow openly homosexual youth and not allow openly homosexual adults (to join the Boy Scouts). That’s not fair,” said Riggs.

He also believes that homosexual groups have an ulterior motive for getting the measure passed.

“I believe, for many, their goal is destroy any institution that makes them feel bad for what they do and how they live,” Riggs said.

The Boy Scout Executive Council is expected to vote on the resolution later this month.